England - Lake District

Blencathra by Sharp Edge and Scales Fell

Character: a walk that demands respect. Do not attempt Sharp Edge if unsure!

Ascent: 2500 feet

Time: 4 hours

Map: Ordnance Survey Outdoor Leisure Map 5 (1:25,000) (English Lakes NE)

 

Quicktime (.mov) movie (5 MB)

 

Blencathra has to be one of the greatest hills in the UK. Although not one of the biggest (indeed, not even a 3000 footer!), it has all the complexity and challenges, not to mention beauty, of many far higher hills. These benefits have not been missed, and hence perhaps one of the hill's only problems is its popularity. The paths on it are huge and eroded, though perhaps not quite so bad as the worst path I have ever been on, the M6 extension that runs up Skiddaw's South East ridge. Sharp Edge is undoubtedly popular for those who like a little excitement, but at least its bare rock briefly hides the fact that thousands have travelled this way before.

This walk starts on the main Keswick - Penrith Road, the A66, about 200 metres to the West of Scales Farm and the Inn. At a small lay by on the North side of the road, a path is signed and heads first North for a few metres, then contours, climbing slowly to the ENE and progressively turning more to the North. This path is shown as a green dotted line on the OS map. After close to a kilometre of this gentle climbing, the track up Scales Fell appears at your left, but you continue straight on, climbing more steeply for 200 metres, before contouring round Scales Fell. Now the path does a left turn to the WNW, and you lose sight of all civilisation - it almost feels like a remote part of Scotland, not just a few miles from a tourist mecca! It was from roughly this point that the video above starts. I think I made a mistake in the initial piece of commentary on the video - the ridge in the fog on the horizon is almost definitely the high saddle where Blencathra's North ridge descends to the watershed at over 600 metres above sea level.

Now you stay some 150 feet above and parallel to the River Glenderamackin, until Scales Beck is reached, a couple of paths leading you up steeply to the tarn. It is from here, at the outflow from the wonderful tarn, that you get your first view of Sharp Edge, and it is impressive. It climbs razor sharp from the Northern side of the tarn, the only eyesore being the huge gouge of a track that leads the few metres up to the edge (but I guess I was there making the path bigger and deeper, so who am I to complain?).

We had bad wet weather (as the video will testify). Foule Crag, the upper part of the edge, disappeared into the cloud, and the edge itself, made entirely of rock, was slippery. Hence we elected to walk beneath the edge, on its Northern side. This was still tricky, with loose rock and scree. We also had a couple of nasty wet slabs to climb up on to, and then, as the ridge had ascended above us while we had stayed mostly level (any track on this side is not obvious), we then had to climb up on to Foule Crag. This was the most tricky part of the walk. Any slip here would have meant a nasty fall and probable serious injury, as the drop would likely have been several hundred feet down steep rocky slopes. I am not sure if I can recommend this route for that reason, and if I tried the edge again, I would be tempted to risk vertigo and stick to the edge. We were forced to go up a steep, scree filled gully with wet sliding stones, and negotiate boulders wedged in the gully. I was very pleased to reach the foot of Foule Crag, and small patches of grass, and on more than one occasion we thought about turning back! This is definitely a serious walk, especially in these wet conditions.

Once the foot of the crag is reached, the difficulties do not end, but the loose scree does, so at least your footing is much more secure. As to where the edge ends and the crag starts, that is open to interpretation. I am choosing to call the crag start where the knife edge finishes, and you are on the steep blunt nose heading upwards. It is at about this point that I got the best shots of the ridge on the video (link above).

We were relieved to find ourselves on the broad grassy whale back that is the summit of Blencathra. We were in the clouds, so visibility was not good, but the track lead us around the top of the crater that holds Scales tarn far below, heading mostly South. The small summit cairn then loomed out of the mist, where the photo below was taken.

On top of Blencathra (Hallsfell top), 868 metres

The descent is a joy, down broad grassy slopes to the East. Once we descended out of the mist, Sharp Edge could be seen in all its glory to our North

Foule Crag (top left), Sharp Edge, and Belncathra's North ridge, with the
watershed at 600 m to the right of the picture

The continuation down Scales Fell is easy and a nice way to descend. Ahead of you, to the East, the whale back of Souther Fell and beyond it the open country towards Penrith can be seen

Souther Fell from Scales Fell lower slopes

From here you rapidly join the track you followed up, and retrace your steps to the A66.

I suppose the joy of this mountain is its variety, and if you want an easy way up and down, Scales Fell would provide it. One winters day a few years ago, I attempted to climb Blencathra by Halls Fell, not noted for its difficulty. On that occassion, it was the winds that were the problem, and at the start of Halls Fell ridge, at about 450 metres up, the winds were so bad I had to turn back. That route looked like one of intermediate difficulty in normal weather - the ridge is not that narrow, but appeared to get rocky and steep towards the top. So as with all great hills, Blencathra offers a huge variety of ascents, and can genuinely be unclimable if the conditions are bad.

You pays your money, you takes your choice!